The Odysseus spacecraft has turn into the primary US spacecraft to land on the moon in 50 years

The Odysseus spacecraft made by Houston-based Intuitive Machines has efficiently landed on the floor of the moon. It marks the primary time a spacecraft from a personal firm has landed on the lunar floor, and it’s the primary US-made craft to achieve the moon because the Apollo missions.

Odysseus was carrying NASA devices, which the house company mentioned could be used to assist put together for future crewed missions to the moon beneath the . NASA confirmed the touchdown occurred at 6:23 PM ET on February 22. The lander from Earth on February 15, with the assistance of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

In response to , there have been some “technical points with the flight” that delayed the touchdown for a few hours. Intuitive Machines CTO Tim Crain informed the paper that “Odysseus is unquestionably on the moon and working nevertheless it stays to be seen whether or not the mission can obtain its targets.” Odysseus has a restricted window of a couple of week to ship information again all the way down to Earth earlier than darkness units in and makes the solar-powered craft inoperable.

Intuitive Machines wasn’t the primary non-public firm to aim a touchdown. Astrobotic made final month with its Peregrine lander, however was unsuccessful. Intuitive Machines is planning to launch lunar landers this yr.